HONOR TO OUR EMERITUS MASTERS, RESEARCHERS AND TEACHERS!

May 1, 2023, will remain a memorable day in the history of the University of Kinshasa, in the history of the Congolese University. All our emeritus professors, dead and alive, were, for the first time on this scale, decorated and honored. At their proper height, in my humble opinion! The first recognition came, in fact, from peers, disciples, from the very people to whom these emeritus professors taught their first steps, to whom they gave their first lessons, to whom they explained the fundamentals of research, with whom they shared their first publications, to whom they explained the value of scientific teamwork and the place of ethics and morality, to whom they taught the principle of respect for elders, to whom they passed the torches to keep the flame of history alive. I don't know about you, but I attended this moving ceremony at the church with constantly wet eyelids. My being was filled with an indescribable feeling of gratitude. It was difficult to resist this surge of flame when reading the names of each of them, or when the identity of each of the deceased was displayed on the wall of the aptly named Church of Our Lady of Wisdom (NODASA) in a loop. I assure you that it was humanly powerful, especially when we had to face the obvious: some of our Masters had difficulty moving, we had to secure them by holding their hands, difficulty recognizing their students due to the weight of age, etc. I would not have missed this event for the world.